Getting the Most Out of The Teleconference

I just got off a series of teleconferences.  I must say that most teleconferences are a waste of time, just like meetings.  We still do them, people still don't get much out of them.  There is a way to make teleconferences more effective.  The first is to have an agenda and keep to the agenda.  Obviously, the purpose of this is to have information sharing.  So there should be one person who will present the information of that agenda items.  It is important that you don't have people talking over each other.  What happens is that when people are talking over each other everyone else leaves with the same understanding they had before meeting and no sharing took place.

Additionally, the afterward of the teleconference is important.  Send an email or have a call that will outline the shared understanding discussed during the conference call.  This will allow the participants to remember what was important and any actions associated with it.  It is a good practice.

Teleconferences do not have to be a waste of time. But they need to be done right to make it worth while.

One Way To Get Things Done

One of the things about project management that you have to keep in mind is that stuff just needs to get done.  It does no use to plan a project, get the perfect team, get everyone on board, and make tons of charts and graphs if nothing ever gets done.  Project management is essentially about getting things done!

One of the most important tools that I use to get things done is the all important to-do list.  I do not keep the to-do list on a computer or on my phone.  I keep the to-do list in a plain old notebook.  My to-do notebook has notes from projects, meetings, or things that I might be researching. That notebook is a peek into my daily life.  I look back on my daily notes to ascertain what I did the month before for any number of status reports that I complete at the end of the month.

What made me think about the humble to-do list was an article I read today.  This article talks about the Getting Things Done productivity system or the "GTD."  I found it interesting. Here is the link:

Getting Things Done, Ten Years In

The To Do List

I think the bad wrap that the to-do list is kind of funny.  The theory is that the to do list becomes a list of things that have to be done on a daily basis  and long term strategic tasks get lost in the daily.  I think that people who believe this probably aren't doing their to-do list correctly.

For me, the to-do list is an important time management tool.  I still use a little book to put my daily to-do list into and to take notes.  I use it to record my daily work and to mark off those things that are complete.  I just do not put the daily tasks, but I also record those big long term strategic tasks into the book as well.  A task might span several weeks as I work on it.  It reminds me that I have to work on it and to make progress.

Because I work on several projects and products at the same time, the to-do list is helpful.  I prefer to actually use a pen and paper for my list and notes.  People say I am old fashioned, but I do what works for me.  I have hundreds of little books full of notes and to-do lists.  I can look back over the years and see what I worked on and the lessons learned from those projects. Many newer project managers who grew up in the digital age use a computer program I am sure.  I do too, but only to document when work is complete.

So despite the proclamation that the to-do list is dead, at least one successful project manager uses them.